Founders of Hogwarts Read Book 1
by ParzivalHallows
Summary: The Four Founders of Hogwarts - plus Harry, Ron and Hermione - read the first Harry Potter book.
1. The BoyWhoLived

The first thing that came to Harry's mind as he woke up was how late it was. He pulled himself up in bed groggily, thinking about the night before. Of course he'd fallen asleep to more nightmares – it was practically a daily occurrence now. Only a few months had passed since the death of Cedric Diggory, a fellow pupil and friend. It may not have been so bad had Harry not been the cause of his death – or the witness for that matter. A burst of red flashed in front of his eyes and he looked up to see Ron Weasley, his best friend, pulling the hangings away from his bed. Apparently he too had woken up late. "Morning," Harry said, muffling a yawn and getting out of his bed.

Ron didn't reply, but he let out a grunt that Harry supposed was his greeting. He let out a mighty yawn and then turned back to Harry, rubbing his eyes. "D'you know what time it is?" he said in a sleepy voice. Harry shrugged, "Dunno, but late most likely. Everybody is gone to breakfast."

"Right," said Ron, slowly becoming more awake. "Seamus woke me up this morning going down to breakfast," he said. "I guess he figured I would want to come," he said awkwardly as Harry stiffened. "You know . . . to get breakfast . . ."

Harry shook his head, "Don't fool yourself," he said in a cold voice that he automatically regretted as Ron winced. "Sorry," he added. "I'm not mad at you."

"I know," Ron said, looking slightly relieved. "He'll come around mate, just watch."

Harry didn't answer him. The day he believed that Seamus would call him a friend again, would be the day that Snape started handing out sweets. If it were to happen, it would not be for a very long time. "You alright?"

"Fine," said Harry shortly. "I'm not really that hungry though . . . why don't you go down? I'll catch up later."

"No," said Ron, trying to keep the uncertainty out of his voice. "No, I'm not hungry either."

As soon as the words slipped out of his mouth, Ron's stomach gave a mighty roar. Harry sighed, "No Ron, go. I'll catch up."

Ron looked as though he was going to object at first, but then his hunger got the better of him. "All right, I'd better see you down there," he added. Harry nodded in response and sat back down on his bed, looking up at the hangings. As soon as Ron went downstairs, Harry heard the voice of his other best friend, Hermione Granger. Though he couldn't make out their exact words, he knew exactly who and what they were discussing. Though it was kind of them to care, Harry also felt a bit of irritation towards his friends. He knew how to take care of himself, they didn't need to baby him.

He blinked and stared in front of him. What he really wanted to do was talk to Dumbledore, but for some reason, the Headmaster seemed to be avoiding him – perhaps he'd heard of Harry's rant over at the Burrow, or maybe he had other reasons, but one thing was for certain: he was definitely ignoring Harry.

Almost as soon as the thought struck him he heard a loud 'BANG'. Taking Harry by surprise, he fell out of his bed. He heard the pounding of footsteps and then both Ron and Hermione were in the dormitory. Hermione's hair seemed bushier than usual, and Ron's eyes were wide. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Harry said grimly, pulling himself up from the ground. "Probably nothing –"

Just as soon as the words left his mouth there was another BANG! Hermione let out a startled cry and grabbed Ron's arm, who was leaning against his bedpost for support. Harry meanwhile had fallen back down on the ground. "What –"

Another BANG, and then a flash of light – he could hear Hermione screaming and Ron letting out a small yell in the background as the light engulfed them. Then Harry was floating; the wooden floor had disappeared, leaving only empty air. Though the thought of falling made his heart skip a few beats, he couldn't deny that he enjoyed the feeling of floating. It was like he was on a broomstick – the wind was whipping past his hair, the weightlessness was overbearing. He tried calling out to Ron and Hermione, but he seemed to have lost his voice.

BANG!

Harry let out a huff as he hit the floor. He gasped and sat upright. He was no longer in the dormitory, or anywhere that he recognized off of the top of his head. He heard a gasp and a moan from next to him, and looked over to see both Ron and Hermione lying on the ground. Dust was covering all three of them, smearing their faces and robes. Hermione's hair was spilling onto the floor in great waves, while Ron was turning over and rubbing a hand on his side. "Blimey," he choked out. "What just happened?"

"Wands out," Harry said quickly, and all of them whipped out their wands. If there was one thing that they all knew, it was that as soon as Harry's voice took on the urgent tone, they had to listen to him. He only took the tone when they were in some sort of trouble.

"What _is _this?" Ron whispered so that only Harry and Hermione could hear, but neither of them had an answer. "Follow me," Harry whispered back, getting to his feet. A shuffling behind him told him that Hermione and Ron were doing the same. Keeping his wand held in front of him, he tried squinting in the darkness. "_Lumos." _

All three of them stiffened. None of them had cast the charm, which only meant that they weren't alone.

A bright light emerged from the left of them and they all shrank back in the shadows. This, however, seemed to do no good. "I can hear you," a woman's deep voice sounded, "You may as well come out. I mean you no harm."

The trio exchanged looks. They couldn't quite believe that this stranger meant them no harm. They all held a hand up to their eyes as the bright light turned towards them, nearly blinding the three of them. Through the cracks of his fingers, looking beyond the light, Harry could make out a very pale witch. Her hair blended with the darkness, and he couldn't make out her features, but she seemed very intimidating.

Spotting them, the woman came closer and closer until finally Hermione had the sense to cast a shield over the three of them. This stopped the woman in her tracks, and she cocked her head to the side. "You should be in your dormitories," she scolded them. Harry blinked.

This was the last thing he'd expected to hear from her.

"What?" Ron blurted out, and the woman turned to him. "Your dormitories, I'll excuse you just this one time if you promise to never walk our corridors this late at night again."

"Who _are _you?" Harry snapped suddenly, cutting the woman off. She seemed to swell with indignation, but answered formally: "I am Rowena Ravenclaw."

Silence.

Then Harry burst out laughing. Hermione and Ron threw him an anxious look, but he couldn't stop laughing. Who was this woman to claim she was a Founder of Hogwarts? One who lived a thousand years ago. "Right," he choked out finally, a grin on his face. "That's a good one."

"Um, mate," Ron muttered to him as the woman's eyes flashed. "I think she's serious."

Harry threw him an incredulous look, but Hermione was shaking her head slightly. Harry took this as a sign to shut up. "Come with me," the woman snapped. "Now!" she added in a stern voice, and Harry was reminded of McGonagall. He glanced at Ron and Hermione, gave a shrug, and followed him. He could practically hear Hermione's brain whizzing from behind him, wondering what he was up to. Harry would never follow somebody without a good reason. Ron meanwhile, just looked stumped.

The woman led them out of the dark room and into a very familiar place. The astronomy tower – Harry was surprised to see stars in the sky. He'd known he'd woken up late, but not _that _late.

Harry turned back to the woman, who was bathed in the moonlight. It seemed to shine off of her skin, casting an eerie glow on her. He could finally make out her features – her eyes were dark, very dark. Her hair was just as dark, and flowed over her blue cloak, which was pinned at the top with a bronze raven. She didn't look very friendly, but she didn't look particularly mean either. One thing was certain – this was not a witch he would want to cross. There was a nagging thought at the back of his mind, but he couldn't surface it until he saw Hermione's eyes widen with awe and excitement.

She too had recognized the face. She too knew that this was the Gray Lady's mother. She too knew that they were staring into the face of Rowena Ravenclaw herself.

Rowena rose a single eyebrow as she studied them. For a moment there was absolute silence, in which Harry sat stunned. His mind had gone completely blank, and the only thought in his head was that he was actually meeting one of the Founders of Hogwarts.

"You don't attend this school," Rowena's deep but stern voice broke the silence, and Harry felt his stomach drop. Had it been too much to hope that she would believe he just belonged to a different House? Then he thought about her characteristics, and how she was valued most for her excessive brilliance and genius mind. Perhaps it _had_ been too much to hope for.

None of them answered her straight away, but Hermione started to talk in a very squeaky voice. "You see, Professor Ravenclaw, we just um . . . we were um . . ."

Harry sent an irritated look her way. Though brilliant, Hermione was never good in a panic situation.

"Where did you get those robes?" Rowena cut her off, staring at the three of them. Harry didn't trust himself to speak, so he just continued to stare at her.

Rowena let out a sigh at their incompetence and ushered them forward, "You are wearing Gryffindor robes. He should remember you, and if not . . . we'll decide what to do with you when we cross that bridge."

The three exchanged nervous looks but followed Rowena all the same. Harry was shaking by the time they reached the chamber she had been leading them to; he completely missed the different hallways she had led them through. She knocked once on the door and started to speak again. "Sir Godric – we have a slight problem."

Harry raised both eyebrows. _Sir_ Godric?

For a moment Harry was certain that Godric wasn't going to answer, but he found that he was mistaken when the chamber door opened. Harry felt his jaw drop as he stared his House's namesake in the face. He had red hair, like Ron, and green eyes rather like his own. He appeared to be tired. "Lady Rowena, what is wrong? Why have you arrived at this late hour?"

Rowena pointed at Harry, Ron and Hermione. "Are these three your students?"

Godric stifled a yawn and turned to look at them. His green eyes narrowed as he studied the three of them carefully, and Harry almost squirmed at the look he was giving him. "No," he said, his voice suddenly taking on a cold tone, "they are not, and these –" he walked forward and grabbed Ron gently by the robes, who let out a rather startled yelp. "Gerroff –"

"Are not the robes I assigned," Godric continued coldly, as though there had not been an interruption. He let go of the Ron's robes and Ron stumbled backward, just missing stepping on Harry's foot. He glared at the three of them, though as of yet there was no real heat in his eyes, "It appears we have some imposters in Hogwarts."

Harry felt himself start to shake. Imposters? He dared to glance at his friends and saw that they both looked just as horrified as he was, though Hermione appeared to be trying desperately to keep her fear under control.

He swallowed and looked at the two Founders, who were looming over them. There was complete silence, until finally Godric spoke again. "Rowena, go and get Salazar and Helga. They need to be informed."

Rowena nodded, and before they could even blink she had vanished. If they were hoping to get a break from the tension, Godric wasn't going to give it to them. He eyed all of them, before saying, "you three must be either very stupid or very courageous to try and break into our security. Tell me, who sent you? Or have you decided to send yourselves?"

Harry felt his neck burn as both Hermione and Ron looked at him for an answer. Harry wanted to shout at them to make up their own story – he could barely remember his own name, much less make a whole story. Godric took in their silence and sighed warily, muttering something under his breath. Just as quick as Rowena had disappeared, Salazar Slytherin and Helga Hufflepuff had appeared, Rowena following soon after. Salazar had black hair, which he kept tucked behind his ears. His eyes were a cold grey, and narrowed dangerously as he observed the three of them. Helga looked a lot friendlier, with her light carrot red hair pulled up in a soft ponytail, but even she seemed intimidating somehow. It was then that Harry noticed Godric, Salazar, and Helga were wearing cloaks similar to Rowena's, although with their own House colors and symbols. Salazar and Godric were sharing dark looks, while Helga stared them down. It was in these tense moments that Rowena finally spoke. "I found some books."

"Well that's just grand," said Salazar in a breezy tone. "In case you haven't noticed, we have three children posing as Hogwarts students."

The accusation was so uncalled for that Harry opened his mouth to protest, but Ron stomped on his foot hard. "Don't," he muttered in Harry's ear, who tried not to look too mad.

"This is important Salazar," said Rowena in a cold tone. "They weren't in our library before."

Helga perked slightly at this, but Salazar and Godric barely acknowledged this piece of information. "Which means," Rowena said in a slow voice, as though talking to a toddler, "that _they _must have somehow put it there," she sent a sharp glance over at the trio as she said it.

She frowned, however, at the completely bemused looks that they sent her. She glanced at each of them then her eyes shot to Harry. For a moment she studied him, and Harry fidgeted slightly at the attention, then she looked straight in his eyes. "You are Harry Potter."

"Harry who?" Godric asked, seemingly interested now.

Rowena ignored him, "would you care to explain why your name is on seven books in our library?"

"Erhm . . . ."

Rowena narrowed her eyes, "You really don't know, do you?"

All three of them shook their heads. Rowena sighed and turned to the other Founders. "I believe," she said in a low tone that Harry barely made out. He was clearly not meant to hear this. "That we have time-travelers on our hands."

Salazar raised one eyebrow incredulously, and Godric laughed outright (which quickly subsided after the glare Rowena sent him), only Helga seemed willing to accept this. "How did you come to that conclusion, Rowena? Does it have to do with your research?"

"Yes," Rowena nodded, "Precisely. You know how long I've been studying time-travel my friends, if any person were to know I would."

Salazar still looked slightly skeptical, but didn't voice his opinion on the matter. Godric turned back to the time-travelers and sighed. "Where are these books being held now?"

"In the abandoned wing on the left upstairs."

Godric nodded, his eyes still on the three, and then started talking. "Very well, you three," he shot at Harry, Ron and Hermione, "you are coming with us."

"With us?" Helga piped up, "Where ever are you bringing them, Godric?"

Godric grimaced, "We're going to the abandoned wing."

Seemingly reluctant, he held an arm out to Ron, "grab my arm," he said quietly, and with a quick and startled glance at Harry, did as he was told. Within seconds they were both gone, with Hermione and Harry staring at the spot they had disappeared. None of the other Founders seemed to be affected by it, and Harry barely noticed when Helga held out her arm to him. "I'm going to take you, and Rowena will take the girl," she said in a soft, kind voice. "No harm shall befall you in my care."

Harry frowned slightly, but didn't answer her as he too took her arm.

It was nothing like he had ever imagined. He felt like he was blending in to his surroundings, rather dreamlike. Before he could make sense of it he was already standing in an abandoned room, Ron and Godric already occupying it. A moment later Hermione and Rowena appeared, with Salazar in tow. Harry looked at both of his friends, but none of them seemed hurt. A little pale perhaps, but could he blame them? He was quite certain that he resembled a sheet of paper he was so pale. Or perhaps Rowena Ravenclaw, who seemed pale regardless.

"Where did you put it?" Godric asked her, a thin note of curiosity in his voice. Rowena pointed to a china desk and Godric raced towards it. Harry's attention was drawn to the other Founders, who looked simply bored. It confused Harry a bit – after all, he didn't think that they had time-travelers pop into existence every other day – but then he noticed that they were putting on a demeanor. He was unsure of how they were really feeling, but they were far from bored.

Harry caught Salazar's eye, and noted that they bored holes into his own, before Godric returned with the books. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," he said in an important voice, ignoring Salazar rolling his eyes at the tone. "You are Harry Potter?" he shot Harry's way, who nodded mutely.

"Should we read them?" Helga asked, and Rowena breathed a small "Yes"

Salazar and Harry, however, were both far from thrilled. "I did not come all this way to read," said Salazar crossly while at the same time Harry exclaimed "What! No!"

The two looked at each other for a moment, before Harry tore his eyes away to look at the other Founders. "I'm for it," said Helga, looking apologetically at Harry, "though I will take your decision into account young one," she said gently. Harry frowned at her odd choice in wording, then realized that he was 1000 years in the past. The thought struck him like a blow, and for a moment he could barely breathe. Godric snapped him out of his stupor, "I am as well. Salazar?"

Salazar narrowed his grey eyes at all of them, "Blast it," he hissed under his breath, and Harry was surprised to see the other Founders looking confused, as though they hadn't quite understood what he said. He glanced at his friend's to also see confusion on their faces. He frowned, was he the only one who could understand him?

"Fine," Salazar said, "but if it does not catch my interest I will not hesitate to leave."

Godric grinned, "could we expect different?"

Salazar either didn't hear him or decided to ignore him, because he just glared at the book. Rowena picked it up, as though to read it, when Harry lost his temper. "I don't want to read that!" he exclaimed angrily. "That's not for anybody to know!"

"Mate," Ron said quietly, "You do know you're in about a hundred books? This is probably just another one, like Lockhart or something."

"Great," Harry scowled, "just what I need. Lockhart to talk about me in his books."

Ron hid a smirk, while Hermione just glanced at them all uncertainly. "So . . . are we reading?"

"Yes," they all said, while at the same time Harry shouted: "No!"

Godric looked at him with something akin to respect and amusement in his eye. "You're outvoted young one, I apologize." He didn't look very sorry at all. It took all Harry had not to jump up and storm out of there on the spot.

"Fine," he snarled, sitting down on one of the seats. Taking this as a queue, everybody else did as well. Rowena cleared her throat and opened the book, skipping to the first chapter. **"The Boy-Who-Lived"**

Harry and Ron both groaned, and the Founders raised their eyebrows. "Something wrong?"

"Just . . . you'll see," Harry said with a sigh.

**Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Private Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.**

"Does that mean that they are muggles?" Salazar asked through narrowed eyes. Harry nodded, though he wasn't sure if Salazar had caught it or not.

**They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense. Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. **

"What's a drill?" Godric wondered aloud. Both Harry and Hermione started to explain it at the same time, while Rowena continued.

**He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors.**

The Founders exchanged looks, but did not comment.

**The Dursleys had a small son named Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.**

**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.**

"There's nothing wrong with the Potters!" Ron said angrily, and Hermione nodded vehemently. Rowena was still looking down at the book, as was Helga, but Godric and Salazar both looked at them curiously.

**Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended that she didn't have a sister, **

Helga frowned.

**because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. The Dursley's shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursley's knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him.**

"That doesn't last long," Harry murmured, as Ron and Hermione threw him sympathetic glances.

**The boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

"A child like what, exactly?" Salazar said in a cold voice, and Harry kept his gaze trailed on the ground.

**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work, and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.**

"What a brat!" Ron exclaimed. The Founders looked at him curiously. "Brat?"

"Oh er – it means someone unpleasant."

"Ah," Godric nodded and Rowena continued to read.

**None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window. At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. "Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive. **

**It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar – a cat reading a map. For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen – then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Private Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he be thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light.**

"Trick of the light my a—" Ron started, but he was shushed by six different voices. Rowena fixed him with a stern glare, and Ron's ears turned red.

**Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat, it stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Private Drive – no, **_**looking **_**at the sign; cats couldn't read maps **_**or **_**signs.**

"An animagus can," Helga interrupted. The other Founders nodded in agreement.

**Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward the town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day. **

**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks.**

"What is wrong with that?" Rowena cut herself off this time, looking at the time-travelers curiously. "Oh, well um, in the muggle world where we come from they don't dress in cloaks." Salazar narrowed his eyes and studied the girl who had spoken more carefully – she seemed to know an awful lot about muggles.

**Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes – the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald green cloak! The nerve of him! **

Salazar smirked at the mention of emerald green, while Godric rolled his eyes.

**But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt – these people were obviously collecting for something . . . yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills. **

**Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. **_**He **_**didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead.**

"What happened that so many people were sending each other mail of that quantity?" Helga wondered aloud.

**Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime. Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. **

"Git," muttered Ron.

**He made several important phone calls, and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood, until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery. **

"Oh no!" Hermione and Helga whispered, alarms ringing in their heads. The guys just figured it must be a girl thing; none of them got any 'danger' senses.

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyes them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single colleting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few of the words they were saying.**

"**The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard**_** –" **_

"Woah! Who said that?" Hermione squeaked.

Rowena's eyes lit up. "Oh of course! It's the book, since it's . . . no, it HAS to be a prophecy, it has real voices in it. I'm only narrating it, in a sense. Alas, it won't work if one is not reading it aloud." She responded, though the thought didn't seem to dismay her. It seemed that Rowena was the only person that was absolutely okay with this though, because everybody in the room was sending each other startled and (in some cases) worried looks.

"**- Yes, there son, Harry –**_** " **_

**Mr. Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.**

**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, **

Hermione quickly explained what a telephone was, and Rowena nodded.

**and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking . . . no, he was being stupid. Potter wasn't such an unusual name.**

The trio exchanged grim looks.

**He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew **_**was **_**called Harry. He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold.**

"That git doesn't even know his own nephew's name?" Salazar spoke for the first time. His eyes widened and he looked surprised with himself, even as everyone stared at him with the same emotion. They all shook out of their trance as Rowena spoke again.

**There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her – if **_**he'd **_**had a sister like that **

Salazar hissed something else, but this time even Harry didn't catch what he said.

**. . . but all the same, those people in cloaks . . . **

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door. **

"**Sorry**_**," **_**he grunted as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that this man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passerby's stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating this happy, happy day!"**__**And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off.**

"You-Know-Who?" asked Godric, sounding rather amused at the title. He glanced at the time-travelers, who looked anything but amused. The grin slid from his face as he studied their demeanor – perhaps laughing at the name hadn't been the best idea.

**Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. **

"A foolish, barbaric no good-" Salazar was cut off as Rowena started reading again, knowing just how heated Salazar could get when it came to muggles.

**He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped for before, because he didn't approve of imagination. **

Godric looked horrified.

**As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw – and it didn't improve his mood – was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**

Ron, Harry and Hermione all smiled as they glanced at each other. There was one word ringing in their minds: _McGonagall! _

"**Shoo!"**__**said Mr. Dursley loudly. The cat didn't move, it just gave him a stern look. Was this normal cat behavior? Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife. **

"_That's _a healthy relationship." Godric snorted, "I wonder what else he's been keeping from her?"

"She probably deserves it." Rowena snarled, as the others turned to look at her in wonder. She simply looked away, but Harry could tell something was bothering her. Salazar particularly looked a bit glum.

**Mrs. Dursley had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!"). Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news: **

"**And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sighting of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to say why the owls have suddenly stopped changing their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGruffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"**

"McGruffin? But a McGruffin goes to school here! He's in my House!" Godric exclaimed.

"He may be acting as a spy!" Ron said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, maybe the Muggles are making a weapon against us wizards," Salazar scowled.

"Or maybe he's on a special mission for us," Helga put in gently, "which has nothing to do with muggle weapons."

"Or maybe you should listen to Professor Ravenclaw, as she's the one telling the story," snapped Hermione.

That quieted them all.

"**Well Ted," said the weatherman,"I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early – it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."**

"Oh, why have we become so reckless!" Helga demanded.

**Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters . . . **

**Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er – Petunia – dear – you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?" **

**As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.**

Salazar opened his mouth, but Rowena glared at him. This quieted Salazar rather quickly and he avoided her eyes.

"**No,"**__**she said sharply, "Why?"**__

"**Funny stuff on the news,"**__**Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls . . . shooting stars . . . and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today . .**_** ." **_

"_**So?" **_**snapped Mrs. Dursley. **

"**Well I just thought . . . maybe . . . it had something to do with . . . you know . . . **_**her**_** crowd.**_**" **_

"Her crowd," Godric muttered angrily.

**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare.**

"Coward," this surprisingly came from Hermione. Ron raised an eyebrow, clearly impressed, and Hermione ducked away, embarrassed.

**Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son – he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"**__

"**I suppose so,"**__**said Mrs. Dursley stiffly. **

"**What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?" **

"**Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me." **

"It's not a nasty name!" Helga said, looking kindly at Harry, who smiled faintly.

"**Oh, yes,"**__**said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes I quite agree."**__**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Private Drive as though it were waiting for something. **

**Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did . . . if it got out that they were related to a pair of – well, he didn't think he could bear it. **

**The Dursley's got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly, but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters **_**were **_**involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew what he and Petunia thought about their kind. . . . He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on – he yawned and turned over – it couldn't affect **_**them. . . **_

**How very wrong he was.**

"What! Why should this affect them at all?" growled Godric. "So far all we've heard is that they're –"

"Prats?" Ron suggested. Godric thought about it, "I suppose that is one word for it."

**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Private Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all. **

**A man appeared on the corner where the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.**

**Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Private Drive. He was tall, thin and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. **

"Professor Dumbledore!" The time-travelers exclaimed.

"Who?" asked Godric curiously.

"The best Headmaster there was at Hogwarts – er, not including you of course," Ron said quickly, but none of the Founders appeared put off. In fact, they all looked thrilled, Salazar included. "I'm glad that someone has kept our school grand."

**He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore. **

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. **

"Oh he did," Harry said, while Ron hid back a smirk.

**He was busy rummaging through his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known**_**." **_

**He found what he was looking for inside his pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street light went out with a little pop. He clicked it again – the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him.**

"Woah! I want one of those!" Ron exclaimed, "Think Dumbledore would give me one?" he asked Harry, who shrugged. "How should I know?" he asked in a rather bitter voice, "He isn't talking to me, remember?"

Ron looked away quickly. "Sorry mate."

Harry didn't answer him.

**If anyone looked out their window now, even the beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he saw down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.**

"**Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."**__**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one.**

Salazar perked up, "She might be a Slytherin!"

Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged looks.

**Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

"**How did you know it was me?"**__**she asked.**

"**My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly**_**." **_

"**You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day,"**__**said Professor McGonagall. **

"**All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here." **

**Professor McGonagall sniffled angrily. "Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right,"**__**she said impatiently, "You'd think they'd be more careful, but no – even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news."**__**She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls . . . shooting stars . . . Well, they're not completely stupid." **

"Yes they are," Ron said, and Harry laughed. Hermione (being Muggleborn) glared in front of her, trying her best to ignore him. But something akin to a smile was lighting her features.

"**They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent – I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense." **

"He's a good man," Harry said with a slight smile, "though she is right, he doesn't have much sense."

"**You can't blame them,"**__**Dumbledore said gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."**__

The Founders looked up at the time-travelers again. "Eleven years? That's a long time."

"No celebration?" Godric added, looking slightly less than horrified.

"Not that I know of," Harry said with a shrug. "We hadn't been born yet."

"**I know that,"**__**said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even messed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors."**__

**She threw a sharp, side-ways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing that would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone Dumbledore?"**__

"**It certainly seems so,"**__**said Dumbledore, "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"**__

"**A **_**what?"**___

"**A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."**

Salazar bit back a sharp retort – he wasn't liking how much muggle things the witches and wizards of the future knew.

"**No thank you,"**__**said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops.**

There were a few chuckles around the room, but Harry was looking grim.

"**As I say, even if You-Know-Who **_**has **_**gone –" **

"**My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense – for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: **_**Voldemort."**_

**Professor McGonagall flinched, **

"What's wrong with his name?" Salazar demanded. "Voldemort?"

Ron flinched, and Hermione's hand twitched. Only Harry seemed unaffected. "It's a long story, should be explained somewhere in here."

**but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to have noticed. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."**

"**I know you haven't,"**__**said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh all right, **_**Voldemort**_**, was frightened of." **

The Founders all looked a bit proud at this.

"**You flatter me,"**__**said Dumbledore calmly, "Voldemort had powers I will never have."**__

"**Only because you're too – well – **_**noble**_** to use them." **

"What's wrong with Dark Magic?" Salazar suddenly demanded, and the time-travelers all gaped at him. "Wrong?" Ron repeated, looking shocked.

"Every Dark Wizard in our history has used Dark Magic – for hurting others!" Hermione added. Harry added, "it's true."

Salazar's eyes narrowed, "I use it, Rowena uses it, does that make us Dark Wizards?"

"Of course not!" Hermione said in a quick voice, "it's just what we're taught."

"Well I don't like what you're taught."

Hermione looked down, while Harry and Ron exchanged looks yet again.

"**It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs." **

Ron rose an eyebrow at this, and Harry sighed. "That is . . . not a very odd thing for him to say," he said, his expression completely serious.

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around. You know what everyone is saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"**__

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.**

"**What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow."**

"Godric's –"

"Yes, it was named after you. It's where I was born," said Harry quietly. Godric, not noticing his foul mood, grinned broadly. "And here I was thinking I wasn't the best wizard out of all of us."

Salazar however, was ignoring the jab from Godric and studying Harry carefully. He had picked up on the foul mood.

"**He went to find the Potters." **

Everyone sat stiffly on the end of their seats, waiting for what was to come.

"**The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are – are – that they're dead." **

Godric's smile slid off of his face and he looked up at Harry, who had went back to staring at the ground. "Were those your parents?"

Harry didn't trust himself to speak, so he just nodded mutely.

"I'm very sorry to hear that," Helga said, looking saddened.

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped. **_**"**_**Lily and James . . . I can't believe it . . . I don't want to believe it . . . Oh, Albus . . ."**__

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know . . . I know . .**_** ."**_** he said heavily. **

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all."**__

The Founders (minus Rowena, who was reading) looked up at this, wondering what else could go wrong.

"**They're saying that he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry." **

Harry felt his face turn red as every face in the room turned to stare at him – Salazar's eyes had gone back to boring holes into his, and Harry had the sudden thought that Salazar knew Legilimency.

"**But – he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke – and that's why he's gone."**__

Rowena cut off there, and looked up at Harry. She was about to ask him if it was true, but seeing the look on his face she decided to continue.

**Dumbledore nodded glumly. **

"**It's – it's**_** true**_**?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done . . . all the people he's killed . . . he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding . . . of all the things to stop him . . . but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?" **

Apparently the same question was on everyone else's mind, because nobody made a sound. Even Hermione and Ron, who already knew the story, were on the edge of their seats.

"**We can only guess**_**," **_**said Dumbledore. "We may never know**_**." **_

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here by the way?" **

"**Yes,"**__**said Professor McGonagall, **_**"**_**And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places**_**?" **_

"**I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now." **

"Absolutely not!" Salazar exclaimed heatedly, and Harry threw him a rather startled glance. He hadn't expected this reaction from Salazar of all people, but there was no mistaking the blaze in his eyes. "Wizards should not mix with muggles!"

At this Hermione looked away – something Godric was quick to pick up on. "Salazar," he said in a warning tone. Salazar looked on the verge of snapping back, but managed to quiet himself, which looked as though it took a lot of work.

"**You don't mean – you can't mean the people who live here?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore, you can't! I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son – I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. **_**Harry Potter**_**…come and live….**_**here**_**?"**

"Exactly! This witch talks sense!" Salazar had apparently gained his both his voice and his bad temper back. "He deserves to – sorry, _you _deserve to live with a Wizarding family!"

Harry threw a glance at the other Founders, but they looked as though this reaction from Salazar was to be expected.

"Salazar!" Godric repeated in that same tone, and after a moment of intense staring, Salazar fell quiet again.

"**It's the best place for him,"**__**said Dumbledore firmly, "His aunt and uncle will explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."**__

Helga's eyes widened, "He thinks he can write all of this in a letter?"

"These muggles will never understand him," Rowena said, her dark eyes glinting. They seemed to have forgotten that 'him' was sitting right there. Harry didn't mind though – it was more like they were aiming this at the book and not at him.

"**A letter?" repeated professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! **

"She thinks like McGonagall," Hermione whispered to Ron and Harry, who both smiled slightly.

**He'll be famous – a legend – I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future – there will be books written about Harry – every child in our world will know his name!"**

"NO," Harry said suddenly, causing them all to jump. "If that had happened, I would have died." Rowena raised an eyebrow, "Isn't that going a bit far?"

Ron shook his head, "With Harry, nothing is ever going too far."

Harry glared at Ron, but didn't say anything back.

"**Exactly,"**__**said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over to top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?" **

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes – Yes you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?**_**" **_**She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it. **

"**Hagrid's bringing him."**__

"Hagrid?"

"You'll see."

"**You think it –**_** wise**_** – to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?" **

Harry and Ron frowned, but Hermione seemed to agree with McGonagall.

"**I would trust Hagrid with my life,"**__**said Dumbledore. **

At this all of the time-travelers beamed.

"**I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to – what was that?" **

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky – and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them. **

"What's a –"

Before Rowena could even finish her sentence Hermione was off, listing all of it's properties and even going as far as comparing it to a car.

"I didn't know we were coming here for a Muggles Studies lesson," Ron whispered to Harry, who nodded in agreement.

**If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big he be allowed, and so **_**wild – **_**long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets. **

"**Hagrid,"**__**said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. **_**"**_**At last. And where did you get that motorcycle**_**?" **_

"**Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir,"**__**said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir."**__

"Sirius," Harry said with a smile.

"Ah, a Black!" Salazar said approvingly. "They're the best Slytherins in my year."

The trio exchanged looks – what would he think if his precious Black air went into Gryffindor?

"**No problems, were there?"**__

"**No sir – house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' aroun'.**

Salazar scoffed. "It's none of their business anyway!"

**He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol." **

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead, they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

At this the Founders looked up at Harry, who for once decided that he needn't cover his scar with his bangs. "Can I look at it later?" Rowena asked him, though the question didn't offend Harry. It rather startled him, but he nodded all the same, "Yeah, sure if you'd like."

"**Is that where -?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**__

"**Yes,"**__**said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."**__

"**Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?" **

Harry perked up at this, but then realized that nothing would be able to get rid of a curse scar – something that Hermione had been quick to point out in his second year when everyone wouldn't stop staring at him.

"**Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well – give him here Hagrid – we'd better get this over with." **

**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned towards the Dursley's house. **

"**Could I – could I say good-bye to him sir?"**__**asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog. **

"**Shhhh!**_**" **_**hissed Professor McGonagall, "**_**you'll wake the Muggles!" **_

"**S-s-sorry,"**__**sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it – Lily an' James dead – an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles –" **

"**Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, **

"Remind me not to go to her when I need comforting," Ron said and Harry snorted.

**or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

"That's it?" Salazar sounded outraged. "He just left him there!"

Harry looked grudgingly up at Salazar. "I don't think they would have taken me any other way."

Godric frowned, but didn't comment as Rowena continued reading.

"**Well,"**__**said Dumbledore finally, "That's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations." **

Harry's eyes hardened at Dumbledore's words. Ron and Hermione threw him worried glances, which he ignored.

"**Yeah,"**__**said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore sir."**__**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**

"**I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall,"**__**said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply. **

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Private Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four. **

"**Good luck Harry,"**__**he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone. **

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Private Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley. . . . He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: **_**"To Harry Potter – the boy who lived." **_

As Rowena finished, the Founders took in everything they had read in that chapter. Even Ron and Hermione had seemed slightly interested in it. A sinking feeling rose in Harry's chest as he realized that since they'd brought the Dursleys in, they'd most likely bring in Harry's childhood. How would they respond to the fact that Harry had been locked in a cupboard most of his life? Especially since he never told him half of what went on in that dreadful house.

"I want to read," said Godric suddenly, and Salazar couldn't stop a smirk from coming on to his face. "I think the world might be ending. Godric Gryffindor, wanting to read?"

Godric glared at him and snatched the book from Rowena.

"**The Vanishing Glass" **


	2. The Vanishing Glass

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Private Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures with what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different colored bonnets,**

Godric and Ron snorted.

– **but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large, blonde boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair," **

"What's a carousel?" Helga asked.

"It's like riding fake broomsticks that lift you up and down only they're usually in the shape of unicorns and stuff." Hermione said.

"Oh."

– **playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too. Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first sound of the day.**

"I'll bet." Muttered Salazar.

"**Up! Get up! Now!" **

Everyone winced as her voice screeched through the small office. "That's not a pleasant thing to wake up to," Hermione said timidly. Harry's heart started pounding, remembering this clearly. They would find out about the cupboard any minute now.

**Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again. **

"**Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking towards the kitchen and then the sound of a frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had the funny feeling he'd had the same dream before. **

Everyone exchanged worried glances, should he have remembered that? He was only ten after all . . . maybe it wasn't so uncommon. But hadn't he been sleeping?

**His aunt was back outside the door. **

"**Are you up yet?" she demanded. **

"**Nearly," said Harry. **

"**Well, get a move on. I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday." **

"I can't believe that bi—"

"Thank you, Mr. Weasley." Rowena cut in quickly.

Salazar growled and motioned for Godric to continue.

**Harry groaned.**

"**What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door. **

"**Nothing, nothing . . ." **

**Dudley's birthday – how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off of one of them, put it on.**

"Why was there a spider on it?" Helga asked, confused.

"I'm sure it doesn't matter," Rowena said, but she was frowning.

"Why would they mention it then?" Helga countered.

"Let me read!" Godric said. Everyone shut up and looked at him. Harry had half a mind to stop him.

**Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.**

"I TOLD YOU!" Salazar was yelling (mostly at Godric, who stood up to face him). "That doesn't mean that all muggles are like that!" he growled. Though it was obvious that Godric and Salazar had had this fight before, it seemed amplified by Harry's predicament.

Helga and Rowena had both frozen in a sort of shock, but managed to snap out of it when Salazar threatened to put a wand to Godric, who was only too happy to comply. They both rushed at the two and managed to pull them apart. Meanwhile amidst the fighting, Ron and Hermione were staring, shocked, at Harry, who looked anywhere but at them.

"Harry you never told –"

"I need some air," Harry snapped, standing up, and everybody stopped talking to look at them. Godric and Salazar both still looked furious, but Rowena nodded, "Good idea," she said, and Helga went over to guide Harry out of the room. He barely checked to see if Helga was still beside him when he slammed the door shut. He leaned against the wall and put his face in his hands, sure that it had turned beet red. Helga looked at him sympathetically, but she had the feeling he didn't want pity right now. "I'm sorry for the way Godric and Salazar behaved back there," she said in a light voice. Harry removed his hands from his face and stared in front of him, still with his back against the wall. "They've been fighting a while over –"

"Over who should attend the school and who shouldn't," Harry cut her off. "I know all of this."

He felt slightly bad for snapping, but he needed to get everything out. "You know that girl in there, Hermione Granger? She's a muggleborn. Salazar doesn't like them does he?"

When Helga hesitated Harry scoffed and shook his head. "No, it's not like that," she said, leaning down so she was face to face with him. "You don't understand him – nobody really does except me, Godric and Rowena."

Harry rose an eyebrow at her. "Care to enlighten me then?" he asked tartly, and once again, Helga hesitated.

"It's not that he hates muggleborns," she said slowly, "he just doesn't trust them."

Harry stared at her, "Doesn't trust them?" he growled, "Why not!"

Helga's gaze never left Harry's. "Do you know what muggles here do to us wizards and witches?"

Harry shook his head negative.

"They burn us at the stake," she said grimly, and Harry felt as though someone had punched him. "Oh . . . ."

"There's more to it than that though," she continued, "there are many muggles here today that act like your guardians. They attack children, give them up to be burned and tortured. Little kids," she said sadly. "and Salazar was one of them."

Harry's eyes widened, "What!"

"He was raised by wizards," she said, "pure-blood wizards. He had a good life with them, a nice life with his parents. No siblings to bother him, just him and his mum and dad. Then. . ." she trailed off, looking uncertain.

"Then?" Harry prodded.

"They came – the muggles. Of course his parents were more than capable of defending themselves, but the muggles snatched Salazar from his room. They used him as bait, told his parents to give themselves up. You know what they did?"

Harry shook his head, horrified yet enthralled.

"They gave themselves up, they gave themselves up to save Salazar."

Harry stared at her, "and did they . . .?"

"Oh yes," said Helga sadly. "It's very horrible, but Salazar was never the same afterwards. They had wanted to burn him as well, but one of the muggles took pity. They said that if Salazar watched his parents get staked, they would let him go. Salazar didn't have much of a choice, so he was forced to watch them as they were murdered in cold-blood," her eyes hardened at this, and Harry could tell that Helga – sweet, fair and caring Helga – was on the verge of complete and utter anger towards the muggles who hurt her friend.

"Godric found him afterwards, they were both about thirteen. Godric adopted him as a brother, and his parents allowed Salazar to stay with them. I've known both Rowena and Godric my whole life, as I was next door neighbors with them. We grew up together," she said sadly. "Salazar was one of the most fair-hearted people I'd ever known, but whenever he spotted a muggle, something in him would snap. To this day anything that has to do with muggles hurting one of our own sets him off. He doesn't trust muggleborns not because of their blood, but because of the fact that they grew up with muggles, and were therefore tainted with lies about witches and wizards." She took a deep breath and waited as Harry took all of this in. He'd heard many things about Salazar Slytherin, but never before had he heard this tale. He wanted to deny it, say that Salazar was a bad person, but he couldn't. If Salazar's best friend knew the story, then it must be true.

"I never knew that," he murmured.

Helga put a hand on Harry's shoulder, who didn't pull away from the contact. This seemed to relieve her, because her face relaxed into a calm smile. "Are you all right? To keep reading?"

There was a brief hesitation, then he shook his head. "No . . . . now that people know this, there's not really much more to tell. It's obvious what my guardians are like," he sighed, "and I guess my friends deserve to know . . . I just wish they hadn't found out this way."

"Better this way," Helga said quietly, "then not at all."

Harry looked up at her, his emerald eyes unreadable. "I suppose," he said slowly. "I probably wouldn't have told them."

Helga kept her hand on Harry's shoulder, and Harry didn't mind it at all. As a matter of fact, he enjoyed the fact that one of the Founders – the famous Founder – was comforting him. It may have been bad that the others were fighting over him, but Helga seemed to understand him. Now he understood why Hufflepuff was loyal, and for the most part very friendly. Cedric had helped him discover this, but meeting Helga was a totally different experience. "Thank you," he said in a quiet but grateful voice.

"Don't thank me," Helga said, brushing back a strand of his hair, which had fallen in his eyes. "Just think about what I've told you."

Harry nodded, "I will," he promised. Helga's face split into a wide smile, as though those words had meant more to her than anything in the world. "They'll be wondering where we are – are you sure you're ready?"

Harry nodded again, "More than sure."

Helga said nothing else, but opened the door. Harry walked in, expecting them to still be arguing, but it was very quiet. Salazar and Godric had both returned to their respectable seats (though they both appeared rather grumpy) and Rowena was sitting with her chin balanced on her hand, apparently deep in thought. Harry looked anxiously at his friends, but they didn't appear angry with him. Hermione gave him a faint smile and Ron gave a small wave. Harry stood still for a moment, and then rushed back to his seat, wishing he could sink into the floor.

"We're not mad you know," Hermione said as soon as he sat down. Ron nodded in agreement. "Thanks," Harry murmured, and Hermione beamed at him.

"Am I to continue reading," Godric asked, then glanced over at Salazar, "Or is he going to throw another hissy fit?"

Salazar didn't seem to hear him, he just motioned for him to continue.

**When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise – unless of course it involved punching somebody. Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry – **

Godric glanced up at Harry, trying to size the boy up. He knew that the last thing Harry wanted right now was attention, but he felt bad about how the boy grew up. The other occupants in the room looked furious, except for Helga, who seemed to be trying to keep her face neutral.

**But he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast. **

"Good thing for that, eh mate?" Ron murmured to Harry, who nodded with a grin.

**Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard,**

They all frowned at the reminder.

**but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. **

Salazar's eyes blazed, but before he could even open his mouth Helga cut in. "That's not fair," she said in a hard tone, "they obviously have money, why do they waste it on that muggle rather than Harry?"

Harry snorted, "Even giving me the second clothes were a waste," he said with a sigh, and Salazar glared at the book, along with Harry's friends.

**Harry had a thin face, knobby knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. **

"Your mum's eyes," Ron said with a smirk, as Harry rolled his eyes. Harry used to love it, but it got rather annoying when people came up to him and said how much he looked like his dad, but had his mum's eyes.

**The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. **

Ron couldn't hold back a laugh. "You _liked _your scar?"

The Founders looked up, confused, "what do you mean? Do you not like it anymore?" asked Helga curiously. Harry shook his head, "No, not really. It's a bit annoying actually, with people staring at my forehead whenever they meet me."

**He had had it for as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he got it. **

"**In the car crash when your parents died," she had said. "And don't ask questions." **

"Car crash!" Hermione shrieked, "They told you your parents died in a _car crash!"_

Hermione had already explained what a car was to the Founders, but it didn't stop them from looking confused. "Cars can crash?"

"Oh yes," Hermione said, turning towards them. "It's not uncommon for cars to crash, but to say that –"

"A witch or a wizard," Salazar growled, and Hermione nodded, "to say that they – Harry's parents – were killed in a car crash is rubbish."

Harry was surprised at how much this seemed to affect her, out of everything else that had been mentioned.

_**Don't ask questions – **_**that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys. **

Both Rowena and Hermione looked outraged at this. "How will you learn!"

**Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon. **

"**Comb your hair!" he barked, by a way of a morning greeting. About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way – all over the place.**

Harry smiled, "Ah, the sweet glory of perfect hair." He purred, Ron laughed and tried to pull it, but Harry snatched his hand right before he could yank a big chunk.

"Agh! Damn seeker skills," Ron muttered, angrily ripping his wrist away from Harry, who laughed.

**Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much of a neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel**

"What angels is _she _seeing?" Godric sounded amused. "Obviously not the pretty ones," Salazar added.

– **Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig. **

At this, nobody could hold back laughs. Salazar had a smirk on his face that reminded Harry of someone, though he couldn't remember who.

**Harry put the plates of eggs and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. **

"They treat him like a house-elf!" Helga exclaimed, angry. Harry sank back into the seat, but was relieved that they had gone back to 'him' rather than 'you'. This way it almost felt as though he were reading about someone else.

**Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell. **

"**Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year." **

"Oh please," Salazar scoffed.

"**Darling, you haven't counted Aunt Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy." **

"**All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a big Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over. **

"Did he actually turn over the table once, Harry?" Hermione sounded slightly worried.

"No it was Uncle Vernon, I guess I figured that he'd probably inherit that from him, along with his ugliness." Harry answered, and Ron smirked.

"If it was Dudley's dad, I don't want to think what got him mad."

"Probably somebody smiling at him." At this everyone snorted.

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another **_**two **_**presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? **_**Two **_**more presents. Is that all right?" **

"Popkin?" Ron laughed, while the Founders looked outraged. "They spoil him rotten!" Hermione snapped.

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work.**

"That's because it was," Ron muttered.

**Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty . . . thirty . . ." **

"**Thirty-nine sweetums," said Aunt Petunia. **

"**Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then." **

**Uncle Vernon chuckled. **

"**Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair. **

"Disgusting," Salazar said. "I wouldn't want to be anything like that foul muggle!"

**At this moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. **

"I don't know what half those things are, but if that Dudley kid likes them, they're probably real good and real expensive." Godric said.

"Yeah."

**He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.**

"**Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction.**

"Do they _ever _acknowledge you?"

"Yes," Harry said simply, "when the need comes."

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she's ever owned. **

"That's not very nice," Rowena scolded, though there was no heat in her voice.

"Sorry," Harry muttered.

"**Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. **

"That would have been a good plan to – er – nevermind," Godric cut himself off quickly as both of the women Founders turned their icy glares on him. Salazar snorted.

**Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself that it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.**

"**We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested. **

"**Don't be silly Vernon, she hates the boy." **

**The Dursley's often spoke about Harry like this, as though he weren't there – or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them. Like a slug. **

"I already hate them." Godric said.

"I've hated them since day one." Salazar put in, holding up a hand. Godric rolled his eyes, "You hate anything that has to do with muggles."

Salazar didn't have an answer to that, but his smirk let it known that it was true. Hermione again started to look uncomfortable.

"**What about what's-her-name, your friend – Yvonne?" **

"**On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia. **

"**You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer). **

"No, that would be fun Harry!" Ron said angrily. "Gits, the lot of them."

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon. **

"**And come back to find the house in ruins?" she snarled.**

"What's he going to do, blow up the House?" Godric asked, sounding amused.

"**I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.**

"See!"

"**I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, ". . . and leave him in the car. . . ." **

"**That cars new, he's not sitting in it alone!" **

"Is THAT their excuse? If you're left in a car for too long you can die!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Can you really?" Asked Ron curiously. "Does that happen with motorcycles too?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "No."

"Oh, that's a relief."

"Continue!" Hermione snapped, throwing Ron an annoyed look, who shrugged. "I think I should mention motorcycles to my dad."

**Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying – it had been years since he'd really cried – but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted. **

"**Dinky Duddydums, don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.**

"Dinky Duddydums?" Godric interrupted himself. "Wow . . ."

"**I. . . don't . . . want . . . him . . . t-t-to . . . come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sighs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms. **

"I'd throttle the kid already! Come on Harry, just throw in one punch for me!" Harry threw Godric a startled glance, who just grinned at him.

**Just then, the doorbell rang – "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically – and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretend crying at once. **

**Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life.**

"He's never – she never – they never – _zoo?" _Hermione managed to sputter out. Everyone looked curiously at her except for Harry, who was staring in the opposite direction. "What's a zoo?"

"Er – oh…never mind."

**His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside. **

"**I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now boy – any funny business, anything at all – and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas." **

"Harry, when's your cousin's birthday?" Rowena asked slowly.

"Er, the 23rd of June," Harry muttered, barely loud enough for them to hear him. Everyone in the room looked outraged.

"**I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly . . ." **

**But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did. **

**The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen. **

"Of course strange things are going to happen around him! He's a wizard!" Salazar spat.

**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short that he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she had left "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses.**

"Well that's their fault isn't it! If they hadn't tried to make him not stick out so much he wouldn't have stuck out so much. Gits."

"Ron, that didn't even make sense!" Hermione said.

"yes it did!" growled Ron. Harry and Hermione exchanged looks.

**The next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off. He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he tried to explain that he **_**couldn't**_** explain how it had grown back so quickly. **

"That's not HIS FAULT!" Helga lashed out. "He was just using magic!"

"I think that's why he got grounded in the first place." Rowena muttered darkly. Salazar bit his lip and frowned, screwing up his face.

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls). The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't have fitted Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.**

"He shouldn't have even _had _to be worried about getting punished!" Rowena vented.

"Well, at least he didn't have to wear it," said Salazar, to everyone's surprise.

**On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney. **

"Blimey Harry, I didn't know you could apparate at that age!" Ron said, looking impressed.

"I think he flew. I did once when I was a lad," Godric added as everyone turned to look at him skeptically. No one seemed to have a retaliation, so they just continued on reading.

**The Dursley's had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them that Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) **

"They locked you in it!"

"That was sort of the point . . ."

**was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump. **

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong.**

Ron groaned. "Why'd you have to think that?"

"Why, what's wrong?" asked Helga curiously.

"Whenever Harry thinks nothing is going to go wrong, something goes wrong," Hermione said, also with a groan of her own. Harry felt his face heat up. "Not always."

"Think of one time when you didn't."

Harry simply stared at Ron, who sighed. "Thought not."

**It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't his school, cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room. **

**While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles. **

"I think he forgot to mention Harry," Godric tried to lighten the mood. There were a few half-hearted laughs.

"**. . . roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said as a motorcycle overtook them. **

"**I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying." **

"I have a nasty feeling about this." Rowena sighed.

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!" **

"I like the imagery there," Godric complimented. "Very visually dynamic."

**Dudley and Piers sniggered. **

"See, even they agree with me!" Godric said. Everyone rolled their eyes, but the image of a gigantic beet with a mustache _was _pretty amusing.

"**I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream." **

**But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was a dream or even a cartoon – they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas. **

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursley's bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop. It wasn't bad either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond. **

"Harry! How could you!"

Harry turned incredulously to Ron, who had been the one to speak. But Ron hadn't finished his sentence, "How could you insult that poor gorilla by comparing it to Dudley?"

At this everybody, even Salazar, had to laugh.

**Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little away apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him. **

Salazar's eyes narrowed dangerously, his mind reeling at the thought of what he'd like to do with those muggles. Or muggles in general for that matter.

**They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice-cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first. **

**Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last. **

"Oh no!" Helga and Rowena said as Ron and Godric and Salazar all said, "What now?"

"Keep reading," Harry said grimly.

**After lunch they went to the reptile house. **

Salazar straightened in his seat, something unreadable in his eyes.

**It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can – but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep. **

"That would have been _amazing,_" Salazar breathed. "She sounds like a real beauty."

"She?" Godric looked amused.

"Yes, I know it's a she," Salazar said impressively, and Godric rolled his eyes.

**Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils. **

"**Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge. **

"_Make it move?" _scoffed Salazar. "What a foolish boy! You don't just make a snake move!"

"**Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped he glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on. **

"**This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away. **

Salazar's eyes widened, "How dare he!"

Rowena turned to the time-travelers, "Salazar gets very protective when it comes to snakes."

They all nodded slowly.

**Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself – no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house. **

"Mate, you're comparing yourself to a creature in a zoo." Ron rose an eyebrow as Harry shrugged. "It was the only thing on my mind at the time."

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's. **

_**It winked. **_

For a moment there was silence and then Salazar stood up suddenly. "You're a parselmouth!" he exclaimed, pointing a finger at Harry.

"What?" Godric sounded annoyed, "how would you know that?"

"Snakes don't wink," Rowena said in a quiet voice, and Salazar nodded. "Exactly! Only a parselmouth can see the body language of snakes. So are you?" he seemed uncharacteristically excited.

"Yeah," Harry admitted, and Salazar looked as though Christmas had come early.

"I'm not the only one," he breathed, sitting back down and looking more relaxed then the time-travelers had ever seen him. There was a sort of childish joy in his face that hadn't been there before. Then he turned his attention back to Harry, "Are there more of you?"

Harry fidgeted, "Erm –" should he tell him about Voldemort? He decided not to. "No, I'm the only one."

"Oh," this didn't seem to dampen Salazar's spirits at all, and Godric beamed at Harry.

**Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too. **

Ron shook his head in disbelief.

**The snake jerked its head towards Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly: **

"_**I get that all the time."**_

"**I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying." **

"You didn't think there was anything weird about talking to a snake?" Ron asked, looking slightly amused.

"Not at the time," Harry said, then exclaimed: "I was _ten!_"

"Nice excuse," Ron said with a huge grin, and Harry glared at him.

**The snake nodded vigorously.**

Salazar was staring at the book in a sort of trance.

"**Where do you come from anyway?" Harry asked. **

**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it. **

**Boa Constrictor, Brazil. **

"**Was it nice there?" **

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. **

Salazar opened his mouth angrily, but Godric cut him off.

"**Oh, I see – so you've never been to Brazil?" **

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout from behind Harry made them both jump. **

"Three guesses who," Ron said, while Rowena rose an eyebrow. "The snake jumped too?"

"**DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T **_**BELIEVE **_**WHAT IT'S DOING!" **

Everyone flinched as the voice yelled out in the office, and Salazar glared.

**Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could. **

"**Out of the way, you." He said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. **

"Ouch," Ron said, and Harry nodded. "It didn't hurt too much, it just took me by surprise," he murmured.

**What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened – one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror. **

Salazar leaned forward, looking excited again.

**Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for exits. **

"Oh please!" Salazar exclaimed, "It's just a snake!"

**As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come. . . . Thanksss, amigo." **

Salazar opened his mouth again, but Godric smacked him upside the head before he could say anything.

**The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.**

"**But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?" **

**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only giver, As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you Harry?" **

"You prat!" Ron spat out. "He did that on purpose."

"How ever did you come up with that conclusion, Ronald?" asked Hermione scathingly, though they could all tell her anger was at the book and not at Ron. Before Ron could open his mouth to retaliate Godric read on.

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He finally managed to say, "Go – cupboard – stay – no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy. **

"No meals! Are they insane!" Godric demanded. "He's a growing boy, he needs to eat. What kind of sick – who – argh!" Godric exclaimed, not being able to come up with a bad enough name for them.

"_And _he's an alcoholic!" exclaimed Helga.

**Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking into the kitchen for some food. **

Both Salazar and Godric looked slightly impressed by this.

**He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. **

"Car crash!" Hermione scoffed.

**He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained him memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead. **

"You survived the killing curse?" Rowena said, her eyes wide as she stared at Harry. Harry fidgeted as all eyes turned on him. "Yeah."

Newfound respect glistened in the Founders eyes as Godric continued reading.

**This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parent's at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house. **

**When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened; the Dursleys were his only family. **

Hermione frowned and Harry sighed. If only he'd known about Remus and Sirius . . .

**Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man with a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking woman dressed in all green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was that they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look. **

**At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter and his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang. **

This did nothing to improve the mood of the Founders and time-travelers. Harry was embarrassed that everybody knew all of his secrets, while Ron and Hermione were practically buzzing with this new information on their friend – who had kept it all from them. The Founders were sharing dark looks, which only they seemed able to determine.

"I'll read next," said Helga suddenly, breaking the silence. Godric nodded and handed her the book. **"The Letters From Nobody" **


	3. Letters From No One

**The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry his longest-ever punishment. **

"That wasn't even his fault!" Helga said crossly.

**By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer holidays had started –**

Everyone gave cries of outrage at this. Salazar had his eyes narrowed to slits.

-**and Dudley had already broken his new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Private Drive with her crutches. **

**Harry was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader.**

Rowena raised an eyebrow, "that makes no sense, the logical thing would be-"

"Just continue," Godric waved her off, ignoring the glare Rowena shot at him. Helga cleared her throat before starting again.

**The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favorite sport: Harry Hunting. **

"At least it's catchy," said Godric, though he didn't look very amused. Harry, however, allowed a twitch of his lips up. Nobody had mentioned how funny the Founders of Hogwarts could be – in fact, History books made them out to be dull and uninteresting characters.

**This was why Harry spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around and thinking about the end of the holidays, where he could see a tiny ray of hope. **

**When September came he would be going off to secondary school and, for the first time in his life, he wouldn't be with Dudley. Dudley had been accepted at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings. Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harry, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the local public school. Dudley thought this was very funny. **

"Why did he think it was very funny?" Hermione asked with a frown.

"You'll see," Harry responded.

"**They stuff people's heads down toilets the first day at Stonewall," he told Harry, "Want to come upstairs and practice?" **

"**No thanks," said Harry. "The poor toilets never had anything as horrible as your head down it – it might be sick." Then he ran, before Dudley could work out what he said. **

Godric and Ron were both howling with laughter.

"I feel bad that Harry had to run," said Salazar, "He could have waited for a few hours then slowly walked away before Dudley wrapped his mind around it." They all cracked up hearing that – mostly because Salazar rarely joked, but when he did it was witty and usually hilarious.

**One day in July, **

"…Dudley finally worked out what Harry said," said Godric seriously, causing Harry and Ron to bellow with laughter and Helga to roll her eyes.

**Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry at Mrs. Figg's. Mrs. Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats, and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. She let Harry watch television and gave him a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she'd had it for several years.**

Godric shivered, "I hate chocolate."

Ron looked as though someone had just slapped him across the face as he stared at Godric.

**That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings' boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters. They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be good training for later in life. **

"That would _never _be tolerated at Hogwarts!" Rowena said with a sniff, looking very shocked at the audacity.

**As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. **

Ron rolled his eyes at this.

**Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle-Dudleykins, he looked so handsome and grown-up. Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh. **

"If only we were there now, we could have seen how stupid the bloke looked." Salazar sighed, hands behind his head as he looked off into the distance.

"_If _we were there now, Harry wouldn't have grown up in that horrid house and we wouldn't have ever had to see that disgusting pig wear his hoity-toity uniform." Rowena said coldly, before turning back to the book. Harry was slightly impressed, despite how hot his face had grown from embarrassment.

**There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Harry went in it for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. He went to have a look. **

"'Course he did!" Ron said with a slight laugh. "He's a Potter!"

Harry ignored this.

**The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in gray water. **

"**What's this?" he asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question.**

Hermione and Rowena looked particularly mad at that sentence.

"**Your new school uniform," she said. **

**Harry looked at the bowl again. "Oh," he said, "I didn't realize it had to be so wet." **

Nearly everyone laughed, except for Rowena, who only gave a chuckle.

"I have the feeling sarcasm will be lost on her," Salazar said with an eyeroll.

"**Don't be stupid," snapped Aunt Petunia. "I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things gray for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished." **

"I'm sure," Hermione said dryly.

**Harry seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue. He sat down at the table and tried not to think about how he was going to look on his first day at Stonewall High – like he was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably. **

**Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smelting stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table. **

**They heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat.**

"**Get the mail, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his newspaper.**

"**Make Harry get it." **

"**Get the mail, Harry." **

"**Make Dudley get it." **

"**Poke him with your Smelting stick, Dudley." **

"That's not fair!" said Helga heatedly, before continuing to read again.

**Harry dodged the Smelting stick and went to get the mail. Three things lay on the doormat: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, who was vacationing on the Isle of Wight, a brown envelope that looked like a bill, and – **_**a letter for Harry. **_

"Hogwarts letter," the three time-travelers chorused.

"A letter?" Rowena looked confused. "Why would you have a letter from Hogwarts?"

"Because – you – school – tell…" Ron seemed unable to say anything, and Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "It'll most likely be explained later."

**Harry picked it up and stared at it, his heart twanging like a giant elastic band. No one, ever, in his whole life, had written to him. Who would? He had no friends – no other relatives – he didn't belong to the library, so he'd never got rude notes asking for books back. Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake.**

_**Mr. H. Potter**_

_**The Cupboard under the Stairs**_

_**4 Private Drive**_

_**Little Whinging**_

_**Surrey **_

"It is! It totally is! They even got the cupboard part!"

"They knew!?" Salazar sounded furious. "They knew he was locked in a cupboard?!"

"Of course not," Hermione sounded sad. "Hogwarts quills write out to the person's location, they never see where – or how – but I think they'll be keeping an eye out for the next batch," Hermione said hurriedly at the looks on the Founders faces. Ron frowned, "How'd you know that?"

"Hogwarts, A History."

It was Ron's turn to roll his eyes, "should have known."

**The envelope with thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp. **

**Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter H. **

At this, the Founders grinned and looked at each other. "I kind of like the idea of sending a letter…"

"**Hurry up, boy!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?" he chuckled at his own joke. **

"That was a joke?"

**Harry went back to the kitchen, still staring at his letter. He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down, and slowly began to open the yellow envelope. Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, and flipped over the postcard. **

"**Marge's ill," he informed Aunt Petunia. "Ate a funny whelk . . ." **

"**Dad!" said Dudley suddenly. "Dad, Harry's got something!" **

Ron groaned.

**Harry was on the point of unfolding his letter, which was written on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was jerked sharply out of his hand by Uncle Vernon.**

"Those fu-" Ron was cut off by a particularly loud cough coming from Rowena's direction. His ears turned red and a sheepish look took over his features.

"**That's **_**mine!" **_**said Harry, trying to snatch it back. **

"You tell 'em!" Godric grinned.

"**Who'd be writing to you?" sneered Uncle Vernon, shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights. And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the grayish white of old porridge. **

"**P-P-Petunia!" he gasped.**

**Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment, it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise. **

"Well they have to have expected it! It was all in the letter. . . probably." Said Helga, frowning.

"**Vernon! Oh my goodness – Vernon!" **

**They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Harry and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley wasn't used to being ignored. He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick.**

"**I want to read that letter!" he said loudly. **

"_**I **_**want to read it," said Harry furiously, "as it's **_**mine." **_

"You tell him, Harry! You won't stand for this!"

"**Get out, both of you," croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside its envelope. **

**Harry didn't move.**

"Good boy." Said Godric proudly.

"**I WANT MY LETTER!" he shouted.**

Everyone in the room winced slightly, as Harry's voice reached maximum. "Ouch…"

"**Let **_**me **_**see it!" Demanded Dudley. **

"**OUT!" roared Uncle Vernon. **

Ten times louder than Harry, almost everyone covered their ears.

**He took both Harry and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and threw them into the hall, slamming the kitchen door behind them. **

"Oi!" Ron looked outraged, "Even my mum wouldn't do that, even though she threatens too…"

**Harry and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole; Dudley won, so Harry, his glasses dangling from one ear, lay flat on his stomach to listen at the crack between door and floor. **

"That actually seems like a better place to listen…"

"**Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "look at the address – how could they possibly know where he sleeps? You don't think they're watching the house?" **

Rowena raised an eyebrow, "I suppose it's possible," she said thoughtfully, "after all, you _are _Harry Potter."

Harry almost winced, hating the fact that it seemed even the Founders found him as something of a celebrity.

"**Watching – spying – night be following us," muttered Uncle Vernon wildly. **

Salazar rolled his eyes.

"**But what should we do Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want –" **

**Harry could see Uncle Vernon's shiny black shoes pacing up and down the kitchen. **

"**No," he said finally. "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer . . . Yes that's best . . . we won't do anything. . . ." **

"**But –" **

"**I'm not having one in the house Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took him in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?" **

"WHAT!?" roared Salazar (unsurprisingly), Ron and Hermione looked too shocked to speak, while Harry had buried his head in his hands again. That same reaction… every time… with his head buried in his hands, he didn't spot the sympathetic glances that Rowena and Godric sent his way.

Finally, Helga brought up the courage to go on.

**That evening, when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before; he visited Harry in his cupboard.**

"He fit?" was Salazar's dry comment.

"**Where's my letter?" said Harry, the moment Uncle Vernon had squeezed through the door. "Who's writing to me?" **

"**No one. It was addressed to you by mistake," said Uncle Vernon shortly. "I have burned it." **

Everyone in the room yelled in outrage while at the same time the book Harry said, **"It was **_**not **_**a mistake! It had my cupboard on it." **

"**SILENCE!" yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling**. (A/N: I really think that part is hilarious but I don't think the Founders and time-travelers would agree with me under the circumstances)** He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked quite painful. **

"**Er – yes, Harry – about this cupboard. Your aunt and I have been thinking . . . you're really getting a bit big for it . . . we think it might be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom." **

"OH! NOW he thinks it's a good idea! When he's trying to HIDE HARRY!" shrieked Hermione, almost louder than Uncle Vernon. If there had been spiders in the room, Harry was certain they would have all been on the floor right now. Suddenly her face went oddly blank, and she ran her fingers through her hair a few times with a dazed look.

"Miss Granger? Wha – OH MERLIN! Second bedroom? That – those – imbecile – creature – foul -!" Rowena ranted on for a good two minutes, thinking and making up every word she could to describe the Dursleys.

"**Why?" said Harry.**

"WHY? Are you crazy, kid? Take it!"

"**Don't ask questions!" snapped his uncle. "Take this stuff upstairs, now." **

**The Dursley's house had four bedrooms:**

Everyone gave cries of outrage.

**one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge) one where Dudley slept, and one where Dudley kept all toys and things that wouldn't fit into his first bedroom. It only took Harry one trip upstairs to move everything he owned from the cupboard to this room. He sat down on the bed and stared around him. Nearly everything in here was broken. The month-old video camera was lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had once driven over the next door neighbor's dog; in the corner was Dudley's first ever television set, which he'd put his foot through when his favorite program had been canceled; there was a large birdcage, which had once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air riffle, which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it. Other shelves were full of books. They were the only things in the room that looked as though they'd never been touched. **

"Shame," muttered Rowena.

**From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother, "I don't **_**want **_**him in there . . . I **_**need **_**that room . . . make him get out. . . ." **

"Shut UP!" snarled Ron, and Harry sent him a shocked look.

**Harry sighed and stretched out on the bed. Yesterday he'd have given anything to be up here. Today he'd rather be back in his cupboard with that letter than up here without it. **

"Don't worry Harry, you'll get more."

"I know that now," Harry shot at Ron, who gave him a sort of grimace.

**Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. Dudley was in shock. He'd screamed, whacked his father with his Smelting stick, been sick on purpose, kicked his mother, and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof, and he still didn't have his room back. Harry was thinking about this time yesterday and bitterly wishing he'd opened the letter in the hall. **

"Yeah I wish he did too." Godric murmured.

". . . . He threw his tortoise? This kid is way too spoiled."

"Poor Harry. . .it's almost like abuse."

"It _is _abuse." This time it was Rowena. She was glaring at the book as though it had done her a personal wrong. "How could they?"

Salazar looked slightly impressed.

**Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly. **

**When the mail arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to be trying to be nice to Harry, made Dudley go and get it. They heard him banging things with his Smelting stick all the way down the hall. Then he shouted, "There's another one! 'Mr. H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Private Drive –" **

**With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact that Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind. **

Godric laughed.

"Got what he deserved the bast-"

Rowena pointedly cleared her throat.

"Sorry Rowena," said Salazar grinning. "I still hope he kills him though."

**After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smelting stick, **("ouch!")** Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Harry's letter clutched in his hand. **

"**Go to your cupboard – I mean bedroom," he wheezed at Harry."Dudley – go – just go." **

**Harry walked round and round his new room. Someone knew he had moved out of his cupboard and they seemed to know he hadn't received his first letter. Surely that meant they'd try again? And this time he'd make sure they didn't fail. He had a plan.**

"No he didn't," said Ron tartly while everyone turned to look at him.

"But it says –"

"I know what it says, but almost all of Harry's plans go wrong."

Harry glared at him, "That's not true, there was that one time –"

Helga cut him off by continuing to read.

**The repaired alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning. Harry turned it off quickly and dressed silently. He mustn't wake the Dursleys. He strode downstairs without turning on any of the lights. **

**He was going to wait for the postman on the corner of Private Drive and get the letters for number four first. His heart hammered as he crept across the front hall toward the front door – **

"**AAAAARRRGH!" **

Everyone in the room jumped as Harry's loud yell reverberated through the office.

"WHAT!?" exclaimed Godric, wide-eyed.

"What happened to Harry!?" demanded Salazar.

"Is he okay?" asked Helga.

"Sh!" Rowena snapped.

Harry just looked at them all, partly amused and partly irritated. They all seemed to forget he was sitting right there, safe and sound.

**Harry leapt into the air; he'd trodden on something big and squashy on the doormat – something **_**alive! **_

"…oh no."

**Lights clicked on upstairs and to his horror Harry realized the big squashy, squashy something had been his uncle's face.**

Ron and Godric burst out laughing, somewhat relieved. Hermione let out a long sigh and wiped some sweat off her forehead. "I don't think he's out of it yet," Salazar warned the others, looking grim.

**Uncle Vernon had been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure that Harry didn't do exactly what he'd been trying to do. He shouted at Harry for about a half an hour and then go told him to make a cup of tea.**

"HE'S NOT A HOUSE-ELF!" Helga yelled, then excused herself and continued reading.

**Harry shuffled miserably off into the kitchen and by the time he got back, the mail had arrived, right into Uncle Vernon's lap. Harry could see three letters addressed in green ink.**

"**I want –" he began, but Uncle Vernon was tearing the letters into pieces before his eyes. **

**Uncle Vernon didn't go to work that day. He stayed at home and nailed up the mail slot. **

"**See," he explained to Aunt Petunia through a mouthful of nails, "If they can't **_**deliver **_**them they'll just give up." **

"pshh! Yeah right." Ron scoffed.

"**I'm not sure that'll work Vernon." **

"**Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me," said Uncle Vernon trying to knock in a nail with the piece of fruitcake Aunt Petunia had just brought him. **

There was complete silence, until - "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAhAHAHAHAHHA AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Thank MERLIN we aren't like him!"

Rowena and Hermione glared at Ron, who had been the source of the noise.

**On Friday, no less than twelve letters arrived for Harry. As they couldn't go through the mail slot they had been pushed under the door, slotted through the sides, and a few even forced through the small window in the downstairs bathroom. **

**Uncle Vernon stayed at home again. After burning all the letters, he got out a hammer and nails and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors so no one could go out. He hummed "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" as he worked, and jumped at small noises.**

"I was right! This guy is a complete nutter!" said Ron.

**On Saturday, things began to get out of hand. Twenty-four letters to Harry found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living room window. While Uncle Vernon made furious telephone calls to the post office and dairy trying to find something to complain to, Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in the food processor. **

"**Who on Earth wants to talk to **_**you **_**this badly?" Dudley asked Harry in amazement. **

"Only everyone in the Wizarding world…" Hermione mumbled, eyes narrowed.

**On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy. **

"**No post on Sundays," he reminded them cheerfully as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, "no damn letters today –" **

**Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head. Next moment, thirty of forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. **

"Wicked!" exclaimed Godric.

**The Dursley's ducked, but Harry leapt into the air trying to catch one.**

"**Out! OUT!" **

**Uncle Vernon seized Harry around the waist and threw him into the hall. **

"Despicable! Horrible! Foul oversized excuse for a Muggle –" Rowena was shaking with rage. The time-travelers were starting to look wary. Though nice, Rowena looked as though she had a very bad temper.

**When Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out with their arms over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor. **

"**That does it," said Uncle Vernon, trying to speak calmly but pulling great tufts out of his mustache at the same time. **

"I agree with Ron," Godric sighed. "Completely barmy."

"**I want you all back here in five minutes ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!" **

**He looked so dangerous with half his mustache missing that no one dared to argue. Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through the boarded-up doors and were in the car, speeding toward the highway. Dudley was sniffling in the back seat; his father had hit him round the head for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, VCR, and computer in his sports bag. **

"What are they?"

"Errr, maybe we'll save that explanation for later."

"Oh, okay."

**They drove. And they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going. Every now and then Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turn and drive in the opposite direction for a little while. "Shake 'em off . . . shake 'em off," he would mutter whenever he did this. **

"This is starting to go a little overboard…"

**They didn't stop to eat or drink all day. By nightfall Dudley was howling. He'd never had such a bad day in his life. He was hungry, he'd missed five television programs he'd wanted to see, and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer.**

"Now he knows how I felt," said Harry, rolling his eyes.

**Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of the big city. Dudley and Harry shared a room with twin beds and damp, musty sheets. Dudley snored but Harry stayed awake, sitting on the windowsill, staring down at the lights of passing cars and wondering. . . . **

**They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast the next day. They had just finished when the owner of the hotel came over to their table. "'Scuse me, but is one of you Mr. H. Potter? Only I got about an 'undred of there at the front desk." **

**She held up a letter so they could read the green ink address.**

**Mr. H. Potter**

**Room 17**

**Railview Hotel**

**Cokeworth **

**Harry made a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon knocked his hand out of the way. The woman stared.**

"I would too! He just hit Harry in public!"

"Well that wasn't exactly a hit. . ." said Godric reluctantly. That didn't mean he was agreeing with the muggles – he despised these ones almost as much as Salazar despised most of them.

"Same difference." Ron said, shaking his head.

"No, if I were her I would have thought that Harry was kidnapped or something," said Rowena.

"**I'll take them," said Uncle Vernon, standing up quickly and following her from the dining room. **

"**Wouldn't it be better to just go home, dear?" Aunt Petunia suggested timidly, hours later, but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to hear her. Exactly what he was looking for, none of them knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back in the car, and off they went again. The same thing happened in the middle of a plowed field, halfway across a suspension bridge, and at the top of a multilevel parking garage. **

"**Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Aunt Petunia dully late that afternoon. Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car, and disappeared. **

"No, not mad . . . not really. Just stupid."

**It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dudley sniveled. **

"**It's Monday," he told his mother. "The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a **_**television**_**." **

**Monday. This reminded Harry of something. If it **_**was **_**Monday – and you could usually count on Dudley to know the days of the week, because of television – then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's eleventh birthday. Of course, his birthday's were never actually fun – last year, the Dursley's had given him a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks.**

Helga broke off, looking disgusted.

"That's sad," said Ron, who (between having all of those siblings) still had enough to keep him occupied.

**Still, you weren't eleven every day. **

**Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling. He was also carrying a long, thin package and didn't answer Aunt Petunia when she asked what he'd bought. **

"**Found the perfect place!" he said. "Come on! Everyone out!" **

**It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing at what looked like a large rock way out at sea. Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine. **

"I don't know, I could imagine a lot." Hermione said, frowning.

"Yeah. . ." Godric mumbled, staring at the book in Helga's hands.

"I don't think I _want _to imagine it."

**One thing was certain, there was no television in there. **

"**Storm forecast for tonight!" said Uncle Vernon gleefully, clapping his hands together. "And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat!" **

**A toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old rowboat bobbing in the iron-gray water below them. **

"**I've already got us some rations," said Uncle Vernon, "so all aboard!" **

**It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces. After what seemed like hours they reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping and sliding, led the way to the broken-down house. **

**The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls, and the fireplace was damp and empty. There were only two rooms. **

**Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a bag of chips each and four bananas.**

"Harry's going to starve!" _More than usual, _an annoying voice chimed in the back of Godric's head.

**He tried to start a fire but the empty chip bags just smoked and shriveled up. **

"**Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" he said cheerfully. **

"Git," Ron rolled his eyes.

**He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought nobody stood a chance of reaching them here in a storm to deliver mail. Harry privately agreed, though the thought didn't cheer him up at all. **

"Well, obviously you get it somehow…"

**As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows. Aunt Petunia found a few moldy blankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa. She and Uncle Vernon went off to the lumpy bed next door, and Harry was left to find the softest bit of floor he could and curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blanket. **

"I can't believe them! These muggles are despicable!" Helga raged, glaring at the book as though she had a personal vendetta against it. Salazar couldn't even find words.

**The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. Harry couldn't sleep. He shivered and turned over, trying to get comfortable, his stomach rumbling with hunger. Dudley's snores were drowned by the low rolls of thunder that started near midnight. The lighted dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told Harry he'd be eleven in ten minutes time. **

At this, everyone smiled. "Hogwarts age!"

**He lay and watched his birthday tick nearer, wondering if the Dursley's would remember at all, wondering where the letter writer was now.**

**Five minutes to go. Harry heard something creak outside. He hoped the roof wasn't going to fall in, although he might be warmer if it did. Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Private Drive would be so full of letters when they got back he'd be able to steal one somehow. **

**Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that? And (two minutes to go) what was that funny crunching noise? Was the rock crumbling into the sea? **

**One minute to go and he'd be eleven. Thirty seconds . . . twenty . . . ten . . . nine – maybe he'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him – three . . . two . . . one . . .**

**BOOM. **

**The whole shack shivered and Harry sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in. **

"That's it for that chapter," said Helga with a sigh. "Who's going to read next?"


	4. Keeper of Keys

Everyone turned to look at Salazar, who was the only Founder that had yet to read. He rolled his eyes and held out his hand to take the book from Helga, "I suppose that means it's my turn."

He glanced down at the title and raised his eyebrows, but didn't comment on it. **"The Keeper of the Keys"**

**BOOM. **

Almost everyone jumped. For having such a silky voice, Salazar knew how to yell.

**They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake.**

"**Where's the cannon?" he asked stupidly. **

"You didn't need to add the 'stupid' part, we all knew that," surprisingly, this came from Rowena, who was looking sour.

**There was a crash from behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands – now they knew what had been in the long, thin package he had brought with them. **

"What's a rifle?" asked Godric.

"It's a kind of metal wand that Muggles use to kill each other with." Hermione explained.

Salazar frowned at her, not sure whether or not he should be upset that _she _seemed to know a lot about it, or if he should be mad at the muggles who made it.

"Why's he need it?" Ron asked, looking scared.

Hermione shrugged, and Salazar continued reading.

"**Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you – I'm armed!"**

**There was a pause, then – SMASH!**

Everyone was expecting Salazar's yell by now, so they didn't jump quite as high as they had before.

**The door was hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed on the floor. **

**A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair. **

"Hagrid!" The time-travelers beamed. The Founders looked confused.

"What's a Hagrid?" asked Helga, with a small frown on her face. Harry almost laughed, but figured that wouldn't be very tactful. Hermione's the one who answered her, though she too looked as though she was close to laughing. "Hagrid's a person – the man that we're reading about right now."

**The giant squeezed his way into the hut, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door, and put it easily back into its frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all. **

"**Couldn't make us a cup 'o tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey. . . ." **

The time-travelers all chuckled at this, and Harry gave his two friends a knowing look. Ron's eyes widened and he grinned at Harry, "Is this it? This is it, isn't it! Oh I can't wait to read this…"

"What are you speaking of?" Rowena asked, looking slightly confused and looking angry that she felt confused.

"Harry's told us this story, well some of it," Ron added, shooting a look at Harry. He was still hurt that Harry hadn't told him and Hermione about the cupboard under the stairs.

**He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen in fear. **

"**Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger. **

Godric grinned, already liking him.

**Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon. **

"He must be huge to cover Dudley too," said Ron, looking faintly amused.

"And he only gets bigger," added Harry, a slight smirk on his face.

"**An' here's Harry!" said the giant. **

**Harry looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled into a smile. "Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh got yer mom's eyes." **

Ron nudged Harry in the side, who gave a longsuffering sigh and ignored him. Hermione shot Ron a warning look, who simply rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

**Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise. **

"**I demand that you leave at once, sir! You are breaking and entering!" **

"**Ah, shut up Dursley yeh great prune," said the giant; he reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room. **

"Go Hagrid!"

**Uncle Vernon made another funny noise; like a mouse being trodden on. **

The time-travelers exchanged looks here, as though wondering whether Pettigrew would make that noise.

"**Anyway, Harry," said the giant, turning his back to the Dursleys, "a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat for yeh here – I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right." **

**From inside the pocket of his black overcoat he pulled out a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with **_**Happy Birthday Harry **_**written on it in green icing. **

**Harry looked up at the giant, he meant to say thank you, but the words got lost in his mouth. Instead he said, "Who are you?" **

**The giant chuckled. **

"**True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts." **

**He held out an enormous hand and shook Harry's whole arm. **

"Poor Hagrid doesn't know his own strength," Ron muttered to Harry, who chuckled.

"**What about tha' tea then, eh?" He said, rubbing his hands together. "I'd not say no ter something stronger if yeh've got it, mind." **

**His eyes fell upon the empty grate with the shriveled up chip bags and he snorted. He bent down over the fireplace; they couldn't see what he was doing, but when he drew back a second later, there was a roaring fire there. **

"He shouldn't be using magic in front of muggles…" said Rowena, sounding torn.

"It was worth it though."

**It filled the whole damp hut with flickering light and Harry felt the warmth wash over him as though he'd sunk into a hot bath. **

**The giant sat back down on the sofa, which sagged under his weight, and began taking all kinds of things out of his pocket coat: a copper kettle, a squashy package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, and a bottle of some amber liquid that he took a swing of before starting to make tea. Soon the hut was filled with the sound and smell of sizzling sausage. Nobody said a thing while the giant was working, but as he slid the first six, fat, juicy, slightly burned sausages from the poker, Dudley fidgeted a little. **

"Fat git." Said Ron.

**Uncle Vernon said sharply, "Don't touch anything he gives you Dudley." **

**The giant chuckled darkly. **

"**Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry."**

There were a lot of chuckles at this.

**He passed the sausages to Harry, who was so hungry he had never tasted anything so wonderful, but he still couldn't take his eyes off the giant. **

**Finally, as nobody seemed about to explain anything, he said, "I'm sorry, but I still don't really know who you are." **

**The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. **

"**Call me Hagrid," he said, "Everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm the Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts – you'll know all 'bout Hogwarts, o' course." **

"**Er – no." said Harry. **

**Hagrid looked shocked. **

"**Sorry," said Harry quickly. **

"Why's he apologizing?! It's not his fault!" cried Godric.

"Probably living with those blasted muggles!" Salazar fumed. Harry wasn't sure whether he should be irritated or amused, after all, they seemed to be directing this more at the book.

"_**Sorry?" **_**barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back in the shadows. "It's them as should be sorry! I knew you weren't getting yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't know abou' Hogwarts, fer crying out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learned it all?" **

"**Learned what?" asked Harry. **

"**ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered. **

Everyone in the room flinched.

"The Dursleys are gonna DIE!" Godric said, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice. Rowena shot him a disapproving look, but, like the rest of them, wanted the Dursleys to pay for Harry's abuse.

"**Now wait jus' one second!" he had leapt to his feet, his anger seemed to fill the whole hut. The Dursley's were cowering against the wall. **

"**Do yer mean to tell me," growled Hagrid at the Dursleys, "that this boy – this boy! – knows nothin' abou' – about ANYTHING?" **

**Harry thought this was going a bit far. He had been to school, after all, and his marks weren't bad. **

"**I can do **_**some **_**things," he said, "I can, you know, do math and stuff." **

Ron shook his head sadly.

**But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, "About **_**our **_**world, I mean. **_**Your **_**world. **_**My **_**world. **_**Yer parent's world!" **_

"**What world?" **

**Hagrid looked as though he were about to explode.**

"**DURSLEY!" he boomed.**

"You go Hagrid!" shouted Godric, though he'd never met or seen the half-giant. "knock 'em all out!" **Uncle Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like "MimbleWimble." Hagrid stared wildly at Harry. **

"**But yeh must know about yer mom and dad," he said, "I mean – they're famous! **_**You're **_**famous!" **

"**What? My – my mom and dad weren't famous, were they?" **

"**Yeh don' know . . . yeh don' know . . ." Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Harry with a bewildered stare. **

"**Yeh don' know what yeh **_**are?" **_**he said finally.**

"He could have worded that a little better," Helga said, looking faintly amused.

**Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice. "Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!" **

**A braver man than Vernon Dursley would how quivered under the furious look Hagrid now gave him; when Hagrid spoke, his every syllable trembled with rage. **

"**You never told him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! And you kept it from him all these years?" **

Everyone was edging forward in their seats, even Salazar looked excited. Harry's facial expression still hadn't changed.

"**Kept **_**what **_**from me?" said Harry eagerly. **

"**STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic. **

**Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror. **

"**Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid. "Harry – yer a wizard." **

"YES!" almost everyone leaped from their chairs in excitement, then promptly sat back down again, looking confused.

**There was silence in the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard.**

"**I'm a **_**what?" **_**gasped Harry. **

"**A wizard, o' course." Said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa which groaned and sank even lower, "and a thumpin' good'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mom an' dad like yers, what else would ya be? And I reckon it's about time yeh've read yer letter." **

**Harry stretched out his hand at last to take the yellowish envelope, addressed in green ink to Mr. H. Potter, The Floor, Hut-On-The-Rock, The Sea. He pulled out the letter and read: **

**Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE**

**(**_**order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)**_

_**Dear Mr. Potter, **_

_**We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31. **_

_**Yours Sincerely, **_

_**Minerva McGonagall, **_

_**Deputy Headmistress **_

"Now at least we know what to put in the letters that we send," Rowena said thoughtfully after hearing Salazar reading that.

The other Founders nodded, looking rather excited at the prospect of sending out a letter.

Hermione piped up quickly, before Salazar had the chance to read again. "May I ask… how do you contact the children now?"

"We send someone to tell them," Rowena replied. Hermione was about to say that they did the same thing to muggleborns, but decided not to at the last minute. She wasn't quite sure she wanted Salazar Slytherin to know she was a muggleborn yet.

**Questions exploded inside Harry's head like fireworks and he couldn't decide which to ask first. After a few minutes he stammered, "What does it mean, they await my owl?" **

"….You find out you're a wizard, and you ask about the owl?" Ron sounded downright confused. Everyone else was laughing at Harry's question.

"**Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart horse, and from yet another pocket inside his overcoat he pulled an owl – a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl – a long quill, and a roll of parchment. With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note that Harry could read upside down. **

_**Dear Professor Dumbledore,**_

_**Given Harry his letter, **_

_**Taking him to buy his things tomorrow. **_

_**Weather's horrible. Hope you're well.**_

_**Hagrid**_

**Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak, went to the door, and threw the owl out into the storm. Then he came back and sat down as though this was as normal as talking on the telephone. **

Nobody cared to ask what a telephone was.

**Harry realized his mouth was open and closed it quickly. **

"**Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Uncle Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight. **

"**He's not going," he said. **

**Hagrid grunted.**

"**I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him," he said. **

"**A what?" said Harry, interested. **

"**A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call nonmagic folk like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on." **

"**We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "swore we'd stomp it out of him!**

"You can't stamp out magic," Salazar seemed to be drained of anger towards the Dursleys at this point, for he said this in a bored and factual tone.

**Wizard indeed!" **

"To this day I'm surprised he actually said the word 'wizard'."

"**You **_**knew?" **_**said Harry. "You **_**knew **_**I'm a – a wizard?" **

"**Knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly. "**_**Knew! **_**Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was? Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that – that **_**school –**_** and came home every vacation with her pockets full of frog spawn, turning teacups into rats. I was the only one who saw her for what she was – a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!" **

"I can't believe she just said that!" roared Salazar, his anger apparently returning. "How can –" he cut off at Rowena's glare, gave a tremendous 'huff', and returned to reading.

**She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years. **

"**Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as – as – **_**abnormal **_**– and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!" **

"I can't believe you found out that way!" Helga both sounded and looked horrified, then a steely expression – the same one he'd seen her wear when talking about the muggles and Salazar – crossed her face. Salazar had returned to staring at Harry, who was sure to avoid his gaze this time. He wished he had paid more attention in History of Magic class, then he would have known for certain if Salazar was a Ligilimens. Hermione and Ron were both looking sadly at him, which he ignored.

**Harry had gone very white. As soon as he found his voice he said, "Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!" **

"**CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid, jumping up so angrily that the Dursleys scuttled back to their corner. "How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal! Harry Potter now knowin' his own story when every kid in our world knows his name?" **

"**But why? What happened?" Harry asked urgently.**

**The anger faded from Hagrid's face. He looked suddenly anxious. **

"**I never expected this," he said in a low, worried voice. "I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin' hold of yeh, how much yeh didn't know. Ah, Harry, I don' know if I'm the right person ter tell yeh – but someone's gotta – yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'." **

**He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys. **

"**Well, it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh – mind, I can't tell yeh everythin', it's a great myst'ry, parts of it. . . ." **

**He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds, and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with – with a person called – but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows –" **

"**Who?" **

"**Well – I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does." **

"**Why not?" **

"**Gulpin' gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared. Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went . . . bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was . . ." **

The Founders were looking anxious now, eager to see how and why this wizard struck such fear into the hearts of the Wizarding world. Ron and Hermione, however, seemed to be preparing themselves to hear the name.

**Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.**

"**Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.**

"**Nah – can't spell it. All right – **_**Voldemort."**_

"I can't believe you actually got him to say it," said Ron, sounding slightly impressed.

**Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this – this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em too – some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, cause he was getting' himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches . . . terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him – an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway.**

"**Now, yer mom an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew. Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day! Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before. . . . probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side. **

"I guess this is a lot of reason that Dark Magic is so frowned upon where you come from…" said Salazar quietly, the other Founders looking quite shocked and horrified at the thought of this Dark Wizard taking over the Wizarding world.

Times weren't exactly peaceful, but they weren't at war. It seemed as though there had been an incredibly big one where the time-travelers came from though. Helga shuddered at the thought.

"**Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em . . . maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Halloween ten years ago. You was just a year old. He came to yer house an' – an' –" **

Though they'd been silent before, it seemed more of a vigil of silence now.

**Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn. **

"**Sorry," he said. "But it's that sad – knew yer mom an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find – anyway . . . **

"**You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then – an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing – he tried to kill you, too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin by then. But he couldn't do it. Never wondered how you got that mark on your forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh – took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even – but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry. No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, an' he'd killed some o' the best witches and wizards of the age – the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewetts – an you was only a baby, an' you lived." **

There was a long silence.

"Does that mean – I mean, do you think you have powers . . . like . . . greater than the average witch or wizard?"

"Well He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did, but he couldn't kill Harry. So do you think Harry was stronger than him?"

"I'm also right here," said Harry tartly. "And I doubt it," he added, "there's nothing really special about me."

Hermione and Ron looked as though they were going to refuse, but said nothing at the look Harry sent their way.

**Something very painful was going on in Harry's mind. As Hagrid's story came to a close, he saw again the blinding flash of green light, more clearly than he had ever remembered it before – and he remembered something else, for the first time in his life: a high, cold, cruel laugh. **

Everyone in the room shuddered, save Salazar, who was staring at the book as though he'd never seen a book before.

**Hagrid was watching him sadly. **

"**Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot. . ." **

"**Load of old tosh," said Uncle Vernon. Harry jumped; he had almost forgotten that the Dursleys were there. Uncle Vernon certainly seemed to have got back his courage. He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were clenched. **

"**Now, you listen here, boy," he snarled, "I accept there's something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured –" **

"IS HE SAYING HE BEAT YOU!?" Salazar suddenly yelled over Uncle Vernon's voice. Almost everybody jumped at the exclamation.

"NO!" Harry said quickly and loudly, trying to calm Salazar down again. If there was one thing Harry remembered about the Founders and History of Magic, it had never mentioned how bad his mood swings were. It was most likely just muggles, as Helga said to him before, but he couldn't help but to wonder what he'd think of him running straight into danger knowingly with Ron and Hermione.

Salazar glared at him, but Harry didn't back down. True, he avoided his eyes, but that was only because he was worried that Salazar could use Ligilimens on him. He didn't really want the cruelest Founder of Hogwarts poking around his brain, thank you very much.

" – **and as for all of this about yer parents, well, they were weirdos, no denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion –" **

"WELL NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR OPINION YOU GREAT UGLY BRUTE!" Salazar shouted at the book, and this time it was Godric who groaned and tried to calm Salazar down. Ron and Hermione were looking quite terrified.

" – **asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types – just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end –" **

**But at that moment, Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew out a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat. Pointing this at Uncle Vernon like a sword, he said, "I'm warning you Dursley – I'm warning you – one more word . . ." **

**In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella by a bearded giant, Uncle Vernon's courage failed again; he flattened himself against the wall and then fell silent. **

"**That's better," said Hagrid, breathing heavily and sitting back down on the sofa, which this time sagged right down to the floor. **

**Harry, meanwhile, still had questions to ask, hundreds of them.**

"**But what happened to Vol-, sorry – I mean, You-Know-Who?" **

"**Good question, Harry. Disapeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst'ry, see . . . he was gettin' more an' more powerful – why'd he go?**

"**Some say he died. Codswallop in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who was on his side came back ter ours. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back. **

"**Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere, but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on. 'Cause somethin' about you finished him, Harry. There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on – **_**I **_**dunno what it was, no one does – but somethin' about you stumped him all right." **

Harry, Hermione and Ron exchanged extremely sad looks at this. Rowena caught this straight away. "Something happened, didn't it?"

"A lot happened," Harry admitted, "and I'm sure these … books… will explain."

**Hagrid looked at Harry with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes, but Harry, instead of feeling pleased and proud, felt quite sure there had been a horrible mistake. A wizard? Him? How could he possibly be? He'd spent his life being clouted by Dudley, and bullied by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon; if he really was a wizard, why hadn't they been turned into toads every time they'd tried to lock him in his cupboard? If he'd once defeated the greatest sorcerer in the world, how come Dudley was always able to kick him around like a football? **

"Am I the only one in here who wants to punch that fat lard?" Ron growled.

"**Hagrid," he said quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard." **

**To his surprise, Hagrid chuckled.**

"**Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared or angry?" **

**Harry looked into the fire. Now that he came to think about it . . . every odd thing that had ever made his aunt and uncle furious when he, Harry, had been upset or angry . . . chased by Dudley's gang, he had somehow found himself out of their reach . . . dreading going to school with that ridiculous haircut, he'd managed to make it grow back . . . and the very last time Dudley had hit him, hadn't he gotten his revenge, without even realizing he was doing it? Hadn't he set a boa constrictor on him? **

"You set it on him?" Salazar, a far cry better than before, sounded slightly amused.

Harry shrugged, "I did make the glass disappear. I mean, it's not like I told the snake to –" he cut off at that, looking as though he were incapable of speech. He turned to look at Hermione and Ron, his mouth still open in shock. They looked at him in wonder and a little bit of concern. "Harry, what is it?"

"Nagini," he practically whispered. At first the words didn't seem to register to them, but then their eyes widened as they took this in. "But… no…"

"Same pattern, same species, same _size, _and you heard Salazar!" Harry motioned towards the confused-looking Founder, "He said it was a girl."

Ron looked very convinced at this, but Hermione was still frowning. "Well that doesn't mean that she's Nagini, does it? I mean..."

"What are you all talking about?" asked Godric with a frown, staring at the three of them. The time-travelers jumped, as though only remembering that they were there. "Just… you'll probably read about her. You'll see…"

Salazar took this as his cue to continue reading, though he was still very curious as to find out who 'Nagini' was and why she seemed so important… and was that fear?...to the time-travelers.

**Harry looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that Hagrid was positively beaming at him. **

"**See?" said Hagrid. "Harry Potter, not a wizard – you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts." **

**But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight. **

"He needs to give up while he's ahead," Hermione said tartly, her eyes narrowed.

"**Haven't I told you he's not going?" he hissed. "He's going to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and he needs all sorts of rubbish – spell books and wands and –" **

"**If he wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop him," growled Hagrid. "Stop Lily an' James Potter's son goin' ter Hogwarts! Yer mad. His names been down ever since he was born. He's off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and he won't know himself. He'll be with youngsters of his own sort, fer a change, an' he'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had, Ablus Dumbled –" **

"**I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon. **

Ron actually cursed and Hermione's hand flew to her mouth in a gasp. Even Harry, though he'd already lived this and was slightly mad at Dumbledore, had a dark look on his face at these words, which considerably brightened. Ron looked at him as though he'd gone insane.

"This is the part," Harry informed his friends, who suddenly looked a lot more mollified – indeed, Ron seemed a little eager. The Founders were all very confused, but decided that reading the book was possibly the only straight answer they would get.

**But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head, "NEVER –" he thundered, " – INSULT – ALBUS – DUMBLEDORE – IN – FRONT – OF – ME!" **

**He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley – there was a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal, and the next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain. When he turned his back on them, Harry saw a curly pig's tail poking through the hole in his trousers. **

Everyone howled with laughter, Ron slapping his knee. "Got what he deserves!"

**Uncle Vernon roared. Pulling Aunt Petunia and Dudley into the other room, he cast one last terrified look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them. **

**Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard. **

"**Shouldn'ta lost me temper," he said ruefully, "but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left to do." **

**He cast a sideways look at Harry under his bushy eyebrows. **

"**Be grateful if yeh didn't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts," he said, "I'm – er – not supposed to do magic, strictly speakin'. I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh an' get yer letters to yeh an' stuff – one o' the reasons I was so keen ter take the job –" **

"**Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Harry. **

The Founders appeared even more confused, if such a thing were possible. "I don't understand. Is his wand broken?"

"No… he uh… he… you'll see," Ron said, already starting to dislike the answer of 'you'll see'. He supposed it was even worse for the Founders though, who had no idea what 'you'll see' meant.

"**Oh, well – I was at Hogwarts meself but I – er – got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore." **

"They snap your wand?" Helga looked horrified.

"Do they not do that in this time?"

"Merlin no," Godric was staring at them with wide eyes, "that could save a witch or wizard's life!"

"**Why were you expelled?"**

"**It's getting' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid loudly. "Gotta get up ter town, get all yer book an' that." **

Ron smirked at the sudden change in subject, and Hermione shot him a nasty look.

**He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry. **

"**You can kip under that," he said. "Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' dormice in one o' the pockets." **

Salazar put the book down, looking at the time travelers.

"Which one of you wants to read?"


End file.
